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Canadian Dr. Richard Meen Heads Westminster 2016 Panel As Best In Show Judge

Masters Agility judges also announced

NEW YORK – Dr. Richard Meen of Toronto has been selected to judge Best In Show at the 140th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show February 15-16, 2016.

He will become the sixth foreign judge and third Canadian to make the selection of the top award in the sport’s most prestigious event.

Dr. Meen became actively involved with purebred dogs in 1965 and has bred and exhibited a number of breeds under his prefix Kishniga. His homebred Borzoi was top dog All Breeds in Canada in 1977, and he bred and co-owned the top Terrier in Canada in 2011 – a Skye Terrier.

Past President and Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Kennel Club, he is active in many dog organizations in Canada and the U.S., and judges all over the world. He has judged at Westminster on four other occasions, including the Terrier Group in 2007.

Dr. Meen practices psychiatry in Toronto.

He will head a panel of 37 judges from 17 states, Canada and Ireland who will officiate at the dog show, held at Madison Square Garden and Piers 92/94 in New York. The panel includes 12 judges who have judged Groups in the past, and 14 who are judging for their first time at Westminster.

Seven breeds will be eligible for Westminster for the first time in 2016: Lagotto Romagnolo (Sporting Group), Cirneco dell’Ettna (Hound), Boerboel (Working), Berger Picard (Herding), Miniature American Shepherd (Herding), Bergamasco (Herding), and Spanish Water Dog (Herding). The addition of these breeds makes a total of 199 breeds and varieties in competition.

The club also announced the judges for its 3rd Annual Masters Agility Championship at Westminster to be held at Pier 94 on Feb. 13, the Saturday preceding the All Breed Show. Those judges are Mr. Nalle Jansson of Haggeby, Sweden, and Ms. Kitty Bradley of Boulder, CO.

The Westminster Kennel Club will expand its activities with the addition of The Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster. The obedience event will also take place on Monday during the day in the same location as the breed judging (Piers 92 and 94). Mrs. Sharon Ann Redmer of Whitmore Lake, MI will serve as the judge for this historic event.

Here is the entire 2016 Westminster Kennel Club judges panel and assignments (subject to American Kennel Club approval):